Soul Marks Cause Nothing but Pain
by IllustriousPaladin
Summary: A drabble that had been rattling around in my head involving Parent!Guy, Ace!Lee, and the "your soul mate's name appears on your skin" trope. Please enjoy!


"I remember the day that Kakashi's name appeared. You would have thought that the world was ending," Guy joked as he treated his team to dinner at his home. "He was horrified."

"Whose name did he get?" Tenten asked, moving the too-spicy curry around without eating it.

Guy winked at his students. "That's not for me to tell."

Tenten and Lee protested Guy's teasing while Neji only frowned. "Where is the name on Kakashi-sensei?" he asked warily.

Guy reached over and patted the boy's shoulder paternally. "Count yourself lucky, Neji. My dear rival's name is on his neck."

"Like a love mark!" Tenten broke into giggles and was joined by Lee.

"A painful one." Neji winced at the thought. His own had apparently caused him a great deal of grief and physical pain.

"May we see yours, Neji?" Lee asked, looking where he knew the letters to lie. A great irony of Fate revealed itself with those letters. Neji removed his hitai-ate and headband to expose the Caged Bird Curse Mark. On the lines of the Mark were Hinata Hyūga, the surname separated from the first by the large X in the center of the branch house child's forehead.

Guy had to admit that Neji was taking this cruel twist extremely well in the face of the resentment he knew his young student harbored for the main house of his clan. The Soul Marks were almost always difficult for genin even without the baggage that came with the Hyuga.

"At least yours is easy to hide," Tenten chirped as Neji recovered the letters.

"Please don't tell anyone about this," Neji all but begged. It was a sign of how much grief the name was causing the boy if he was willing to forget his pride and beg his teammates to keep his secret.

"We won't," Guy promised and looked at his other students. "It'll be a team secret. Right, Team Guy!?" He beamed and held his fist out over the table. Tenten and Lee reached out to tap Guy's fist with their own.

"I will not say a word!" Lee swore. Neji nodded and stood, Tenten following suit. Guy recognized that this signaled the end of their team dinner and thanked them for coming.

On their way out the door, Guy pulled Neji aside for a moment and assured him, "Everything will work out. If you need to talk more about it in private, just let me know." Neji nodded in agreement and met Tenten outside the door.

Lee helped Guy clear the table after the other two genin left. Despite being lost in his own thoughts, Guy couldn't help noticing how uncharacteristically quiet Lee was being.

"Is something troubling you, Lee?"

Lee smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking about when I might think get my name."

Guy took a seat and motioned for Lee to sit beside him. The boy dropped beside him, and Guy draped his arm around his shoulders. "What're you thinking?"

Lee looked at the floor as he admitted, "I hope I do not get a name. I do not want one."

Guy looked the boy over, noticing the tension that the boy held in his small shoulders. "Oh Lee," he said softly. "A name doesn't have to mean anything romantic. No one really knows what these names mean, other than typically being someone you have a strong connection to. I just hope that you don't end up with an enemy's name." He ruffled the boy's hair with a paternal smile.

"That can happen?" Lee asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"Unfortunately," he confirmed, nodding. "They say that the Sannin have each other's names – which is unusual also because normally only one person will have another's name. If someone has your name, no one else will, but for them, it's different because they are so closely tied together."

"That is sad," Lee mumbled. Guy could tell from his downcast face that he was searching for the person it could be.

"Kakashi told me that Naruto and Sasuke have already gotten their names. Can you keep a secret?" After Lee nodded, Guy continued, "It's also a sad story. Naruto has Sasuke's name, but Sasuke has Itachi's. Who Itachi has is anyone's guess, though."

"That i_is_/i sad," Lee murmured. "Do these names always cause so much pain? Neji's name must be destroying him. He hates his family so much."

Guy smoothed the boy's hair and made a sympathetic noise in his throat. "I know. I wish I knew how to help him."

Lee's soft eyes looked up at Guy's face, and Guy could already see the question burning there. "Whose name do you have, Guy-sensei?"

He hesitated. What could he say? Nothing but the truth, honestly. He inhaled deeply before putting on a gentle smile. "I, well, I have yours actually."

Lee's eyes widened again as he turned to face him more fully. "What? Mine?" When Guy nodded, his eyes flicked downward. "Where? May I see?"

Guy chuckled before standing and removing his flak jacket. Lee watched closely as Guy revealed his left pectoral. Written cleanly across it was 'Lee', just Lee. Lee's eyes teared up as he sank into his seat, obviously relieved.

"Thank you," he sighed. "Thank Kami. Thank – thank – oh just thank you!"

"Were you worried someone else would have your name?" Guy playfully asked as he fixed his clothes.

"Tenten keeps teasing me that we will have each other's name, but I do not feel like that about her," Lee complained.

Guy wet his lips and looked his student over. "Do you feel that way about anyone? Maybe Sakura?" He had heard about Lee's excited utterances about protecting Kakashi's pink-haired student during the chūnin exams.

Lee looked slightly ashamed of himself as he shook his head. "No, but she does not take me seriously. I am not leading her on. I do not feel that way about anyone – and I do not want to feel like that about anyone!"

"I understand," he laughed. "You may never get a name, Lee. And if you do, you may not meet the person for a long time. I had to wait a decade or so to meet you after I got your name. It's actually funny. I don't know when my name came in. I was so used to pain that I didn't even notice it. The same might happen to you."

"Really?"

Guy nodded. "I've heard of shinobi's Soul Marks appearing during fights and them thinking that it was just an injury from the fight."

Lee laid his head on Guy's shoulder and sighed. "I hope that I never have a name, and I hope that you are the only person to ever have mine."

"Do—" Guy hesitated, wetting his lips. "Do you want to talk about what you're feeling, Lee?"

The boy looked embarrassed, but he answered anyway. "I am not like Tenten or Ino. I just want to follow my nindo."

"There's nothing wrong with that," he assured him. "Not everyone is meant to – or has to feel like that toward other people. I want you to know that, okay?"

Lee nodded, relieved tears streaming down his face.

* * *

Guy thought back on that day often over the years. Anytime he saw someone's eyes get caught on Lee, he thought of the young boy at his table terrified that he had to love someone 'like that'. And he felt a sense of pride as he watched that young boy grow into a young man whose focus never strayed from his nindo, his ninja way.

And when that fine shinobi finally took on a student of his own, one just like himself, Guy felt that he had truly completed his own nindo. He had seen his boy through to become the best ninja he could be, a genius of hard work.

Sitting in his chair on top of Hokage rock, he looked out over the Hidden Leaf and ran his fingers over the name concealed beneath the layers of clothing on his chest.

This was one Soul Mark that never caused anyone any grief.


End file.
